1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to wire distribution flooring units for building floors, and more particularly, to a raceway forming member for converting the trough of a cellular or non-cellular flooring unit into at least two electrical raceways.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
The use of cellular and non-cellular metal flooring units in the construction of composite building floors is well known. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,636 (Albrecht et al), which describes a non-cellular profiled metal flooring unit having longitudinally inverted channels, with valleys or troughs disposed therebetween. The flooring unit is adapted to support an overlying layer of concrete to coact compositely. A metal cellular flooring unit differs in that it is provided with a lower metal sheet secured to the profiled upper metal sheet along contiguous portions thereof which cooperates with the inverted channels to form cells. Such metal cellular flooring units are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,812,636 (Albrecht et al), 3,397,497 (Shea et al), and 3,459,875 (Fork). The cells of a cellular flooring unit have been used to distribute electrical services, such as telephone, electrical power and the like to various locations in a floor.
It is also known that a trough of the cellular or non-cellular flooring unit may be capped to convert the trough into an electrical raceway. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,912,848 (Lee et al), 3,592,956 (Fork), and 4,194,332 (Fork). Typically, the capping of the trough and/or the positioning therein of inserts provides only a single raceway through which high voltage electrical wiring or low voltage single carrying wiring may be distributed.
A field-assembled cellular flooring unit is known wherein the trough of a non-cellular corrugated flooring unit presenting two inverted channels, receives a U-shaped element which divides the trough into three upright channels. A capping arrangement including alternating cover plates and preset access housings, caps the trough and converts the upright channels into enclosed raceways, see Bowman Construction Products advertisement appearing in the July 1983 issue of "Building Design & Construction" at pages 145-148.